An Evansville man has been arrested on a charge of murder and multiple other felony charges in connection to the Aleah Beckerle case.

Terrence Wayne Roach, 24, has been booked into the Vanderburgh County jail on charges of murder, kidnapping, abuse of a corpse and criminal confinement, among other charges. Evansville Police Sgt. Jason Cullum confirmed Friday evening the arrest was made in relation to the disappearance of Beckerle, a 19-year-old disabled girl whose remains were found in a vacant home on the South Side.

Roach is the step-brother of one of Beckerle's sisters, according to Prosecutor Nick Hermann.

The prosecutor's office has until Wednesday to file formal charges. Hermann said he expects to file "murder charged a couple different ways," including intentionally killing a person and killing a person while trying to commit burglary or kidnapping.

During a press conference at the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor's Office Friday evening, Evansville police Capt. Andy Chandler said Roach confessed to the kidnapping and killing of Beckerle today while speaking with police. According to Chandler, Roach took Beckerle from her home on East Iowa Street and took her to a house at 1628 S. Bedford Ave., where she ultimately died.

Chandler said Roach wasn't a suspect prior to his confession. A charge of murder can bring 45-65 years in prison.

Beckerle's body was found inside the Bedford Avenue house on Monday. She was identified on Wednesday.

"Our community can have a small sense of peace tonight, because we’ve come to announce what we’ve all hoped for tonight: the arrest of the person we believe is responsible for the abduction and death of Aleah Beckerle," Chandler said on Friday.

Beckerle's immediate family are not suspects at this time, Chandler said.

Police declined to discuss motives during the news conference, but authorities said there are still leads that need to be followed.

“I do truly understand the magnitude of this case and the attention it has gathered nationwide, but there is so much that we cannot divulge and we will not divulge," Chandler said. "We don’t want, in the steps going forward, to do anything that would compromise a successful conclusion and prosecution of this case.”

During the news conference, Hermann said other charges are likely to be filed against Roach, including abuse of a corpse. According to the prosecutor, that charge is filed for "knowingly or intentionally (having) sexual intercourse with a corpse.”

Detective Brent Melton, the lead detective on the case, said Roach's arrest doesn't bring the case to an end. Hermann also stressed that the investigation was ongoing.

“This does not mean the investigation is over,” Hermann said. “There’s still work to do.”

Beckerle was reported missing July 17. Because she was mostly nonverbal, wheelchair-bound and could not have left her Iowa Street home on her own, police suspected foul play.

Evansville Police, assisted by the FBI, the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office and multiple other agencies, launched several large-scale searches during the investigation, including a search of a landfill in Pike County and an area off Weinbach Avenue and Interstate 69 in Evansville.

Eventually, a tip led detectives to the vacant house on Bedford Avenue, where they found human remains. An autopsy conducted by the Vanderburgh County Coroner's Office on Wednesday morning confirmed the body was Beckerle.

With that discovery, the case became a criminal investigation instead of a search for a missing person, Chandler said Wednesday.

Beckerle's disappearance drew national attention. People offered moral support and prayers in a Facebook group called "Bring Aleah Home," where volunteers also planned search parties to comb the Evansville-Henderson area for clues. National search-and-rescue group Texas Equusearch organized several search parties and trained Evansville volunteers in July.

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Memorial for Aleah Beckerle(Photo: Noah Stubbs/ Courier & Press)

Correction: An earlier version of this story attributed a quote from Prosecutor Nick Hermann to another person. The story has been updated.